The Road Not Taken
by DreamingOfTheOsakaSun
Summary: Dan and Phil at university, but not as we know them. How would their lives have played out if they had never started YouTube? Massively inspired by the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. I forgot to give a disclaimer in the actual story so: I do not own Dan or Phil, or basically anyone mention in this. Rated T for the one swear word in the entire story.


**Okay. Hello. This is not the first I've ever written fanfiction but it is the first I've ever uploaded. There is more to this but the rest is poorly written and I feel like I should upload more quality than quantity. Rated T for Dan's swearing, I'm fairly certain Phil doesn't swear. I don't believe this will turn into Phan but more just platonic Phan. Atm it's just Dan and Phil if they never started YouTube. But I made it so they still meet each other. I haven't decided on future characters. So yeah. I hope this isn't entirely terrible and that people like it. Please, please review. I need critics so I can improve my writing. **

_"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,  
And sorry I could not travel both  
And be one traveler, long I stood  
And looked down one as far as I could  
To where it bent in the undergrowth;_

_Then took the other, as just as fair,  
And having perhaps the better claim,  
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;  
Though as for that the passing there  
Had worn them really about the same._

_And both that morning equally lay  
In leaves no step had trodden black.  
Oh, I kept the first for another day!  
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,  
I doubted if I should ever come back._

_I shall be telling this with a sigh  
Somewhere ages and ages hence:  
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -  
I took the road less traveled by,  
And that has made all the difference."_

_\- Robert Frost_

Dan walked through the beautiful archway entrance to the courtyard of the university. He studied the patterns in the keystone of the archway, and turned to his friend, Phil.

"Hey, did you know that a keystone on an archway isn't actually the key stone that keeps it together? All of the stones in an archway are equally important." He said with a smile as he looked up at the archway again. Phil just stifled a laugh.

"Is this what studying Architecture has done to you, Daniel? Are you going to list random facts about archways every time we see one?" He asked jokingly, as Dan cringed at the use of his full name.

"I promise to stop if you promise to never call me 'Daniel' again." Phil smiled at this, and simply nodded in response.

"Dan… have you ever wondered what would happen if we had made a couple of different decisions in our lives? Like, if I hadn't of decided to study computer engineering but instead chosen to take my original plan of studying something more creative, like a film course or something?" Phil asked, with an undertone of regret.

"Has that poem gotten to you again?" Dan asked, raising his eyebrow. "Honestly, I should have never introduced you to Robert Frost."

"'The Road Not Taken' is a beautiful poem. It just brought up a lot of questions for me."

"So, you're wondering what would've happened if I had, say, picked something stupid like Law instead of Architecture?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, we can never know what would have become of us." Phil said, now looking down at his feet as they walked through the courtyard. "I mean what if I had pursued film and become a famous director or something? What if we never met the way we did? What if we never actually met?"

"I honestly don't know, Phil. But I have a feeling you would have been successful in whatever you had chosen to do. Honestly, I think if I'd gone with Law, I would have ended up dropping out. I don't really see myself as a lawyer, do you?"

Phil simply laughed at the concept. Dan was a lot of things, but he was far too creative to be stuck in a course like Law, and far too hilarious and laid back to have such a serious profession. "Yeah, you would never have lasted."

"I kind of wished I had pursued music a little more, though. I don't know. I guess I just liked the idea of being as famous and has huge as a band like Muse or Fall Out Boy."

"Haha, to be honest, I could see adoring fangirls swooning over you. Maybe they would have been swooning over me as well? I'd be a famous film director, sometimes acting as well. You could have written the music for my first film."

Dan laughed. "I think I'm far too socially awkward to be famous. But imagine being able to inspire people like that. My music would be played on the radio, meeting famous people, being best friends with someone awesome… like Nick Jonas. I can see us having an awesome little bromance."

"Nick Jonas, huh? What, just being able to walk up to him and being like 'Oh, hey Nick! Long time, no see!' and giving him a big hug?" Phil laughed. "I don't see it, but hey."

"Well maybe Pete Wentz would be tweeting you congratulating you on the Oscar you won for your latest film." Dan contemplated, smiling at the idea that Phil would be receiving tweets from someone as big as Pete Wentz.

"Oh my God, that would have been amazing! My inner teenage self would have gone ballistic at the prospect of it." Phil said, laughing.

"Can you imagine it though? Maybe you would have worked for the BBC, directing Sherlock and you would have met me on an American late night talk show. I would have been on tour with my band, 'That Man Is Not On Fire'. You would have been on a promotional tour with Benedict Cumberbatch for the release of Season 4 of Sherlock. We could have still met, still have been best mates just a little more publicly."

"'That Man Is Not On Fire'? Why don't you call it 'Dan Is Not On Fire'? They both sound pretty ridiculous though." Phil said, laughing a little.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I? I took the road traveled by the most often, because I wanted to play it safe. And it didn't make a fucking difference." Dan said with a sigh. "Do you really think I might have made it as a musician?"

"Honestly Dan, you'll never know until you try." Phil said with a smile. "You could still try now. You're still really fairly young; you don't want to live your entire life with regret."

"Maybe… maybe I should." Dan said, with a slight smile. "I could do it on the side, start a band or something and still study my course and it'd all work out."

"If it makes you happy, you definitely should," Phil said, slinging an arm over Dan's shoulder. "Take it from a wise old man-"

"Phil you're only 24." Dan cut in.

"But still older than you, you fetus," laughed Phil, who seemed to be enjoying himself a little too much. "Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted… wait, what was I saying? Damn it, Dan, you've interrupted my train of thought."

"Obviously not _that _wise then, are you?" Dan said, a smirk taking over his face.

"But seriously, if it makes you happy, you should do it. No matter if it's, I don't know, climbing Mount Everest or acting or starting up a band, you should totally do it."

Dan thought about Phil's words, and nodded. "Maybe you're right. How would I know if I never try?"

Phil grinned. "Oh, Dan. You know, I'm always right."

***cringes* Okay, I'm sorry for the shortness of it all, please, please review. Sorry for the swearing, I felt like it was necessary to make it realistic.**

**Thank you guys! Bye!**


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